A fine preparation or contrast for The Runaway Jury is any of the versions of Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose. Rose wrote the original television play in 1954, then expanded the script for the celebrated 1957 film with Henry Fonda as the honorable juror #8 who persuades a reluctant jury to acquit a murder defendant. (Sherman L. Sergei adapted the material into a three-act stage play. Rose himself updated the script for a 1997 cable telecast.) Juror #8 is an unambiguously good man whose decency wins the jurors to his side. Most of the jurymen are quiet and unassuming, willing to be led. Juror #8 must joust for control with the only two other men who have assertive personalities. Contrasting Juror #8 and Nicholas reveals very different views of court procedures. While in Twelve Angry Men justice is achieved only after much troubled debate (and from the serendipitous placement of #8 in the...